Monday, 17 October 2011

Over 30 wave and tidal sites now leased around UK

The Crown Estate today, 12 October 2011, announced eight new offshore siteagreements for wave and tidal energy projects, taking the total number of UKprojects to over 30. The new sites are from the second application windowfor projects in connection with the Scottish Government’s Saltire Prize (inScottish waters) and demonstration projects, which opened in April 2011.

The projects are in a variety of locations around the UK coast, with themajority off Scotland and including sites off Wales and Northern Ireland.They range from small technology test schemes for short term installation tocommercial projects with up to 30 MW potential generating capacity.

Scottish Government Energy Minister Fergus Ewing said: “Scotland has thepotential to lead the world in wave and tidal energy, with a quarter ofEurope's tidal stream and a tenth of its wave energy potential. These newprojects around the north and west of Scotland bring the total number ofplanned developments in Scotland to 25, including 1.6GW in the PentlandFirth and Orkney waters strategic area. Today’s announcement furtherreinforces the growing momentum and appetite for investment in marinerenewables and demonstrates the breadth of activity taking place aroundScotland’s coast.”

Carwyn Jones, First Minister of Wales, said: “The recently completed MarineRenewable Energy Strategic Framework (MRESF) offers a unique data set toassist developers in Wales and we are working with key partners, like TheCrown Estate, to take the industry forward. As one of the most advanced UKtidal projects, already the subject of an environmental impact assessmentand in the consents process, Marine Current Turbines’ Skerries project nearAnglesey is an outstanding example of the future potential for marine energydevelopment off the Welsh coast.”

Arlene Foster, Minister for Enterprise Trade and Investment at the NorthernIreland Executive, said: “Building on Northern Ireland’s proud heritage ofresearch and development in wave and tidal energy (for example the work ofQueen’s University Belfast which underpins Wavegen’s OWC technology), we aredelighted to see Swedish company Minesto plan to test its technology inStrangford Lough. In collaboration with The Crown Estate, we will soon beannouncing opportunities for commercial scale offshore wind and tidaldevelopment.”

Rob Hastings, Director of the Marine Estate, The Crown Estate, said: “Ourannouncement today is a further indication of how UK companies are takingstrides forwards towards commercial deployment of wave and tidal energy,particularly in Scotland. In the last six months we have continued to seestrong interest in wave and tidal leases. The Crown Estate’s growing waveand tidal team looks forward to working with the companies to overcomedevelopment barriers and see the projects come to fruition.”

This is the first time some of these developments have been proposedpublicly, reflecting the early stage they are at in the development process.A key part of the development phase is consultation and communityengagement, and all developers will now begin or continue discussing theirplans with stakeholders local to each site. In most cases, the rightsawarded are ‘agreements for lease’ – exclusivity agreements for areas ofseabed. Using these agreements the project developers will survey the sitesand design projects in preparation to install generation devices in future.Before construction begins and prior to The Crown Estate issuing leases forany of the sites, the developers will need to obtain statutory consents fromrelevant government regulators, such as Marine Scotland or the MarineManagement Organisation. This normally requires completion of anEnvironmental Impact Assessment, and the statutory consenting process itselfincludes further consultation with stakeholders to ensure developmentsproceed only after the views of interested parties have been taken intoaccount.

The third application window for Saltire Prize and demonstration projects,which could result in more leases being awarded as soon as March 2012, willopen on 24 October 2011. For further details, see The Crown Estate website.